Air Pollution in Siberia. A Volume and Risk-Weighted Analysis of a Siberian Pollution Database

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INTERIM REPORT

IIASA

IR-98-059/October

Air Pollution in Siberia

A volume and risk-weighted analysis of a Siberian pollution database

N. Koko Warner-Merl (warnerme@iiasa.ac.at)

Professor Sten Nilsson (nilsson@iiasa.ac.at)

Leader, Sustainable Boreal Forest Resources Project

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Foreword

IIASA, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Russian Federal Forest Service, in agreeement with the Russian Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, signed agreements in 1992 and 1994 to carry out a large-scale study on the Russian forest sector. The overall objective of the study is to focus on policy options that would encourage sustainable development of the sector. The goals are to assess the forest resources, forest industries, and infrastructure; to examine the forests‘ economic, social, and biospheric functions; with these functions in mind, to identify possible pathways for their sustainable development;

and to translate these pathways into policy options for Russian and international agencies.

Within this study an extensive pollution database has been established. Mrs Koko Warner-Merl has used this database for quantitative analysis of organic and inorganic emitted compounds in Siberia. These quantitative analyses have been the base for indentification of possible abatement strategies in the region.

The author has conducted this work as a guest researcher at IIASA.

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Abstract and Principle Findings

Air pollution from industrial centers in Siberia pose observable environmental threats. Siberian ecosystems have begun to show stress from the accumulation of pollution depositions that come from cities and industrial plants. While some uncertainty exists as to the long-term effects of air pollution upon forests, in measurable terms such as human mortality and incidence of disease, forest species decline or forest die- back, observable impacts indicate that there is cause for concern. Industrial emissions from large production centers regularly release toxins into the air, pollutants that find their way into forest soils and water systems. The risk-ranked and volume based chemical profiles here provide insight into the possible threats posed to the environment in specific regions and by specific compounds. More dynamic models must come forward to account for accumulation of pollutants, environmental response, and effects upon biodiversity in these areas.

This report analyses a pollution database provided by the Russian Federation for Siberia from the years 1992 and 1993. It reveals a pollution profile with acute spots of emissions exposure and large areas of less- affected environments. The report uses two methods to analyze emissions and to identify possible abatement strategies. The first simply identifies the volume of given pollutants in given administrative regions (oblast, kray, republic), in specific towns, and in specific industrial sectors. The second approach applies a risk-weighting factor to help identify those chemicals that, regardless of total volume emitted, have higher destructive potential than the majority of reported pollutants. This approach reveals that Siberian policy makers can take several cost-effective steps towards reducing emissions and environmental threat in the region, while helping to improve industrial performance and the international competitiveness of Siberian enterprise.

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1. Using volume-based emissions data, excluding SO2, CO2, and NOx for which Nilsson et al. (1996) already provided analysis, the following pollutants appear to pose the greatest threat to Siberian environments, in order of reported volume emitted in 1992-1993:

Inorganic compounds Organic compounds

V2O5 Benzol (benzene)

Carbon soot Xylene

Ammonia Styrene

Manganese Toulene

Lead Methanol

Chromium hexavalent Phenol

Nitric acid Butazulene

Hydrogen chloride Ethyl acetate

Sulphuric acid Formaldehyde

Flouric gasses Acetone

These compounds appear in almost every administrative region (the main exception being regions in the Far East) in volumes exceeding 10,000 tons per annum. Particular areas have varied pollution profiles in which some chemicals appear to play a more dominant role than others in posing risk to the environment.

2. By introducing a risk-ranking methodology which couples toxicity information with sheer volume of pollutants emitted, the analysis changes significantly. Using a human-health based risk ranking, the following pollutants appear to pose the most serious threat to Siberian environments, in order of toxic rank in descending order:

Inorganic compounds Organic compounds

Tetraethyl lead Furfural

Cresol Acetone

Mercury Toulene

Carbon tetrachloride Styrene

Arsenic Hexane

Hexavalent chromium Formaldehyde

V2O5 Naphtalene

Hydrogen sulfide Phenol

Hydrocyanic acid Ethyl ether

Manganese Xylene

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The above-mentioned inorganic compounds are all ranked absolutely and relatively higher than organic compounds in posing risk to human health. These metals are categorized in this report in

“high” and “medium” risk groups. The organic compounds above rank in the “medium risk” group.

The chemical that emerges as the single most toxic and environmentally threatening emission using risk-ranked analysis is tetraethyl lead. Because of its high toxicity, lead dominates the pollution profile of every administrative region and poses the most significant risk for human health. Initial research upon the toxic effects of lead upon various species of trees shows reasonable evidence that lead, combined particularly with acidifying compounds, can cause an array of developmental distortions and damage. Applying risk thresholds to lead may, however, be inappropriate given research indicating that lead in any dose may have toxic effects on living organisms. The author employs human health in order to determine environmental risk posed by various chemicals in Siberian environments.

3. Using a volume-based analysis, the industries associated with energy production such as large and small coal burning plants, oil extraction and refining contribute the greatest quantity of pollutants into Siberian environments. Policy makers concerned with reducing weight of emissions released could focus upon regulating or taxing the energy sector to reduce the types of emissions of greatest concern there (SO2, CO2, and NOx).

4. Following the risk-ranked analysis of air pollution in Siberia, a much different distrubution of industries appear to be the top culprits responsible for potential environmental damage from air pollution. Energy production is notably absent, while the polymetallic industry (because of its relatively high releases of lead), machine building, and machinery and tool industry command the highest risk emissions.

In the current situation of economic transition and adjustment, when economy-wide regulatory mechanisms and political institutions may not bear a full reform of current environmental policy, it may be most efficient to use risk-ranking to target the chemicals of most concern. If human health, and by way of proxy forest health, is a high political and economic priority, following a policy which focuses on reducing emissions at the source (typically a small handful of mega-sources in industrial complexes) will abate the riskiest compounds.

5. Areas at risk from significant damage from air pollution: East Siberia tends to have the highest (th.

tons) levels of emissions and the Far East the lowest. Following an observed pattern, emissions tend to be highest around the major centers of industrial production, with the highest levels of atmospheric emissions in the southern-central part of Siberia in the regions of Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Novosibirsk.

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Two areas register as Siberia’s most polluted areas in terms of volume: Tyumen oblast in West Siberia and Krasnoyarsk Kray in East Siberia. Anthropogenic activities here contributed over two times the volume of pollution as any other area in Siberia, amounting between 1992 and 1993 to just under six million tons. The next-worst polluted areas are Irkutsk oblast and Kemerovo oblast, again located in East and West Siberia respectively. After these most-polluted areas comes a large gap in volumes emitted.

6. Recommended policy approaches: The natural resources of Siberia stand at long-term risk from air pollution, but much hope remains if policy makers act quickly to abate the emissions that threaten forests, human health, and ecosystems. Policy makers must first decide if toxicity or volume of emissions is most important to set abatement goals. This consideration will be based upon the key weight which two possibly conflicting, current policy goals take. Under the Russian Federation‘sl pollution charge system, industries pay fines for emissions exceeding acceptable levels. The first goal is to use pollution charges to fund other environmental programs. The second goal is to use pollution charges as a deterrent for industries to continue polluting above specified levels. It appears as if the revenue goal dominates the current policy scenario. However, if abatement takes on higher value, risk- related information such as that presented in this report will become more relevant in shaping policy.

Specifically, identifying general regions of environmental risk, identifying the chemicals of most concern (either by volume or risk-rank), and identifying the key industries that serve as source points are necessary steps preceeding the formulation of a sustainable environmental policy for pollution abatement.

This report indicates that focusing on a few administrative regions such as Krasnoyarsk Kray, Irkutsk, and Novosibirsk may envelope up to 80% of total emissions and total risk-weighted emissions. An efficient policy will first target these areas, and focus on abatement in the major point sources, such as the polymetallic industry for metal emissions. Augmenting the current pollution charge system with a direct regulatory approach for strategic polluters sectors appears to offer the most realistic policy option for sustainable development in the medium- and short-term. More ambitious long-term policies may include gradually shifting energy use away from fossil fuels, a restructuring of several industrial sectors and the elimination of redundant and outdated sectors in favor of globally competitive production. The protection, and concurrently, the sustainable development of, Siberia‘s unparalled forest resources must take high priority.

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1. Introduction

As Russia positions itself for a new phase of economic development based upon its vast natural resources, assessing the environmental status of Siberia becomes increasingly important. The extraction of forest products, in addition to oil, natural gas and mineral wealth, promises new sources of prosperity for the region. However, without a policy that ensures the long-term survival and use of both renewable and finite resources, Russia may exhaust its bounty and create an environmental disaster with global consequences.

Under the auspices of IIASA’s Sustainable Boreal Forest Resources project, a team of researchers has already investigated several topics related to Siberia’s environment. Kiseleva (1996) provided a general overview of environmental conditions in Siberia in respect to atmospheric emissions, upon which the present study expands. Nilsson et al. (1998) calculated critical loads estimations for acidification from SO2, and NOx, while other researchers have performed numerous studies on Russian forestry, industry, and oil extraction.

To complete the environmental overview of air pollution in Siberia, this study analyzes the levels and potential risks to forest ecosystems of organic and inorganic compounds. The data upon which the analysis is based was recorded by the Russian Federation, which identified the chemical compounds of interest and measured emissions of these by administrative region, city, and industrial source for the 1992 to 1993. The concern of the present study is to assess the spatial distribution of toxic inorganic and organic emissions in Siberia--divided into three subregions: West Siberia, East Siberia, and the Far East--which facilitates estimating potential environmental risks and impacts for the area. The author has attempted a preliminary risk ranking of the most toxic pollutants in specific areas, which in future research may yield more concrete details about the risks posed to environmental resources in the region. Following a general overview, the author presents a more detailed look into each region, its industries, and the pollutants that could create the highest risks and impacts upon Siberian environments. Within this report one finds descriptions of the most polluted and most pristine areas in the region, as well as major industrial polluters and the toxic chemical compounds they emit. One of the primary objectives here is to provide a baseline report on the pattern of organic and inorganic emissions and potential environmental risks.

Future research will reveal specific, direct toxic effects on identified endpoints. This report provides a point of departure for general conclusions about the threats to Siberian ecosystems from atmospheric emissions, based on a stylized weighted risk assessment which identifies by toxic potential some of the most critical pollutants in the region.¹ The author does identify several endpoints to assess the

1 Possible endpoints for future assessment may include biological production, for which forest productive capacity could serve as a proxy. For example, researchers could assess the proportion of a region devoted to biological production that is lost or lost from production due to chemical exposures (controlling for other factors) (trees).

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potential environmental impacts and risks to the environment in Siberia. While most emphasis is given to forest ecosystems (for which tree health stands as a proxy), consideration is also given to human health in polluted regions.

Some problems do occur with the data, which make some types of risk assessment more difficult.

The data does not indicate seasonality of emissions releases. Background pollution levels for reported chemicals are not given, nor are depositions of these chemicals measured in Russian studies. “Expert opinion” seems to have played a role in some data, and discrepancies occasionally appear between regional estimates and those from Moscow. In addition the study covers only a two-year period of emissions, rendering time series analysis of air pollution less meaningful. To estimate possible environmental risks, the author has used proxy methods to assess emission impacts. These drawbacks do not, however, obscure the importance of the information presented here about the Siberian region.

Following this introduction, section two outlines the parameters of the Siberian air emissions database upon which this analysis has its basis. The two methods of volume-based and risk-weighted pollutant ranking are described. Section three provides a pollution profile of the Siberian environment, based on both volume-based and risk-weighted analysis. Regions at risk are broadly described, and cities and specific industrial centers that appear to be the culprits for the majority of target pollutants are discussed. Section four reviews current research on the effects of various toxins on forest ecosystems and points out the various stress factors to forests which can be augmented by such chemical compounds.

Section five outlines policy suggestions for the development of a sustainable, viable abatement program for the region and concludes with suggestions for future research.

2. Siberian emissions database

The emissions database upon which this report is based contains information about the volume of emissions in thousand tons for 22 inorganic compounds, 54 inorganic compounds, and numerous other particulates such as solid and liquid emissions, dust, flue gasses, filter residue, and recycled residue. The author focuses here upon the potential impacts of inorganic and organic emissions upon Siberian environments. These pollutants are also aggregated into eight general categories (solid, gaseous and liquid, SO2, CO2, NOx, hyrocarbons without VOCs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other gaseous and liquid compounds) for a broader overview of emissions. While the dispersion of these chemicals throughout the region remains unclear, initial reports estimate that a majority of pollutants deposit in a relatively near vicinity to their emission source. This creates a unique pattern in Siberia of areas of acute

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pollution damage and larger areas of lower risk. Chart 2.0.indicates the aggregate level of emissions in Siberia in 1992-1993.

Chart 2.0

Total Russian Federation emissions for the years 1992-93 were approximately 157,470 thousand tons and 138,200 thousand tons, respectively. During the transition period in which many industries slowed or stopped production, pollution also decreased in some locations. The total amount of pollutants from stationary sources in West Siberia 1988 was estimated at 19.3% of Russia’s total, while just five years later the amount was 11,769.25 thousand tons (8.51% of Russia’s total). Decreasing patterns prevailed for East Siberia and the Far East, where pollution from stationary sources measured in 1988 at 12.5% of Russia’s total and 5% of Russia’s total, respectively. 1993 levels were estimated at 8,515.56 (6.16 % of Russia’s total) and 2,586.08 thousand tons (1.9% of Russia’s total). These figures are subject to much “expert opinion,” however there is reasonable certainty that they generally reflect reality as industries reduced production to meet the economic rigors of the transition phase. The situation in the past few years as industries have recovered has nevertheless changed the pollution balance again towards higher emissions.

As the map below indicates, the pattern and distribution of emissions (by volume) vary significantly throughout Siberia.

Em issio n s to ta l b y a d m in istra tive re g io n , 1992/93

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Altai Krasnoy

arsk Khabar

ovsk Yevrey a.

Kamchatk a

Magadan Osmk

Toms k

Chita

Tuva Yakutia

thousand tons

1992 1993

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Map 1 Emissions by volume, location, and type in Siberia.

Source: IIASA, Sustainable Boreal Forest Resources

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The map shows that, considering only pollutant by sheer volume, SO2 appears to be one of the most serious threats to the natural environment in Siberia, particularly around Norilsk. In Western Siberia, SO2, CO2, and NOx contribute more equitably to environmental degradation. This map does not identify single pollutants that may pose particular threats to the environment. In order to move to this phase of the analysis, the author has employed a risk ranking methodology to distinguish and group the individual contaminants in the Siberian pollution database posing greatest environmental threat.

2.1 Toxicity rank of database chemicals

This study of organic and inorganic emissions reveals a pattern of particular importance for the development of a sustainable development policy for the Siberian region. While total volume of pollutants certainly concerns policy makers, of more importance will be to establish which pollutants correlate with the most environmental disturbance or damage. While it is useful to compare total volumes of chemical compounds emitted by given industries, knowing the toxic potential of the various compounds adds depth to the discussion of where emissions must be lowered, and what the potential risks for various endpoints may be.

Given the quality of the data which reports only volume quantities of emitted compounds, creating a risk ranking to determine which chemicals pose the greatest risk in Siberia becomes methodologically difficult. With more information from Russia, it would be feasible to follow the pattern set by the EPA in developing media-specific benchmark values for those chemicals commonly found in surface water, sediment and soil samples at sites (values for soil are still under development). The values are referred to as Ecotox Thresholds (ETs), and are defined as media-specific contaminant concentrations above which there is sufficient concern regarding adverse ecological effects to warrant further site investigation. ETs are designed to provide Superfund site managers with a tool to efficiently identify contaminants that may pose a threat to ecological receptors and focus further site activities on those contaminants and the media in which they are found.² In the future, a methodology such as that for calculating ETs could prove helpful in assessing risk from pollutants in Siberia.

Until such information becomes available, the author has employed the following methodology as an example of what could be used to estimate emissions risk in Siberia. The approach, which uses human health as an endpoint for determining the toxicity rank of the chemicals provided in the IIASA’s Air Pollution database, does not accurately represent the threat to Siberian environments. Comparatively more

2 Such an approach is most useful for screening a particular site, rather than for setting regulatory criteria, site-specific cleanup standards, or abatement goals. The approach may set thresholds too high at some sites for chemicals with the potential to bioaccumulate to toxic levels in upper trophic wildlife (e.g., methyl mercury, PCBs, DDT, dioxins, and lead).

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data exists for the analysis of toxic impact upon humans than for any other environmental endpoint, yet the analysis does move towards the general goal of assessing environmental impact. The report illustrates which chemicals appear to play the most important role in air pollution in Siberia and points to future areas of study for the region. As for the impact upon humans from exposure to harmful compounds, given low population densities in Siberia, exposure risk for humans to this set of atmospheric emissions appears relatively low for individuals living outside of industrial centers. Exposure risk for plants and animals, however, could be more significant. More detailed information about populations, exposure pathways, toxic impacts upon different environmental endpoints, and a variety of other chemical data is needed to carry out detailed impact assessments from air pollution in Siberia.

Using the volume of emissions by site for each compound, the author combined reference dose information for each identified compound with the volume of emissions by site for each compound. A reference dose (RfD) is an estimate (with uncertainty spanning perhaps an order of magnitude) of a daily exposure to the human population (including sensitive subgroups) that is likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime. Multiplying RfDs for each chemical by total volume of each chemical emitted yields an estimate of the risk value for human health for each pollutant. Chart 2.1 illustrates the compounds which, following this method, appear to have a highly toxic impact upon humans at a given dosage (the RfD).

Risk ranking in this way allows one to divide Siberian emissions into high, medium, and low risk groups.

Knowing which chemicals pose greatest threats to human health (and by way of proxy to forest health), policy makers can more cost-effectively focus on specific abatement goals. For example, the most toxic compound which appears in this analysis is tetraethyl lead, which not only appears consistently throughout the region, but also has some of the most dangerous health impacts for humans. The use of leaded fuels and lack of lead regulation in industrial processes could be responsible for high levels of lead in atmospheric emissions.³ Other toxins that fall into this “high risk” category include mercury, cresol, arsenic, and carbon tetrachloride. Many chemicals fall into the “medium risk” category, including V2O5, toluene, styrene, phenol, naphtalene, manganese, hydrogen sulfide, hydrocyanic acid, hexavalent chromium, hexane, furfural, formaldehyde, carbon disulfide, acrolein, and acetone. In the “lower risk” category fall compounds such as xylene, pyridine, phthalic anhydride, nickel, methanol, hexahydro 2H-azepin-2-one, ethylbenzene, ethyl ether, ethyle acetate, chlorine, and acrylic acid. While these rankings are limited to human health, they do illustrate which chemicals pose greater threats when introducing a dose indicator such as the RfD.

3 The author acknowledges that risk ranking may not be appropriate for chemicals such as lead and mercury. Current research indicates that exposure to such heavy metals may prove toxic at any level.

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Chart 2.1 RfD Ranked toxins based upon emissions in Siberia, 1992/93

The present risk-ranking methodology uses human dosage to assign toxic risk to the Siberian pollution database. Future research in the effect of emissions upon specific endpoints such as boreal forests, soil organisms, and animal life will give more insight to the present analysis. Because large areas of Siberia are covered primarily by coniferous and deciduous forests, such measurements would prove more appropriate to measure negative effects of atmospheric emissions. The present study indicates which areas have a higher probability for risk from excessive exposure to high-risk toxins, and what the potential and observed effects upon forest ecosystems are for Siberia and its subregions.

1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 100000

0

1E+07 1E+08 1E+09 1E+10 1E+11 1E+12 1E+13 1E Acetone

Acrylic acid Carbon disulfide Chlorine Ethyl acetate Ethylbenzene Furfural Hexane Hydrocyanic acid Manganese Methanol Nickel Phthalic anhydride Styrene Toluene Xylenes

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3. Pollution profile of the Siberian environment

In this section the author outlines findings of two analyses of IIASA’s Siberian pollution database.

The first identified problem areas by total volume of pollution emitted in a given year, by administrative region (oblast, kray, or republic), by town and by industry. This approach revealed a geographically distinct pollution pattern in the region, without indicating which chemicals might pose greater environmental risk.

The second approach applied a risk-weighted scale based on reported chemical toxicity. Using this method, the author pinpointed specific industries and chemicals most likely to threaten Siberian forests and human populations in the vicinity of the emission sources. The results are presented first as a general overview of regions at risk, followed by a look at which industries can be closely associated with high-volume and high-risk emissions.

3.1 Regions at risk

Spanning over 597 million hectares (forested area), some 94% of which fall under state forest management, Siberia encompasses a globally unique set of ecosystems, industrial economy, and environmental challenges. Controversy has raged over the degree to which both aggregate and singular areas are threatened from anthropogenic disturbance. This report finds that large areas of Siberia are indirectly exposed to high-risk ambient toxins, while some acute areas sustain significant short- and long- term damage from air pollution.

The unique geography of Siberia, enclosed largely by mountains on all borders has allowed pollution to remain relatively localized in many areas. The air pollution problem from organic and inorganic emissions appears in many cases to be a regional problem, with some notable instances of long- distance air pollution. For example, Tyumen Oblast receives pollution from the Southern Ural industrial zone, and Canadian scientists began reporting in the 1980s that the massive industrial Norilsk complex contributes markedly to arctic haze, acid rain and marine pollution (via the Yenisey River) (Saunders, 1990). American scientists have identified suspended particles in central Alaska as consistent with nickel and other heavy metals from Norilsk, indicating that some Siberian air pollution may correlate with trans- oceanic problems (Shaw, 1982). Environmental degradation in terms of forest damage and death occur in greatest magnitude along a southern corridor in West and East Siberia, the Norilsk complex in northern East Sibera, and along coast of the Far East region.

Pryde (1994) reports that 23 regions in Siberia have ‘very critical’ environmental conditions.

Seventeen of these are located in East Siberia and the Far East. Industrial cities are the main producers of atmospheric emissions; the areas surrounding these cites are most at risk for environmental damage.

Ongoing studies have assessed many of these cities and have reported extensive damage from toxic emissions in terms of natural loss such as tree die-back, and human loss such as higher incidences of

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disease caused by exposure to toxic emissions. Poor air and water quality, severe health problems, and deterioration of natural ecosystems characterize environmental degradation in these regions. In contrast, emissions remain low in areas far from industrial centers. Estimates about the environmental damage due to air pollution varies widely; however, this assessment shows that the environmental damage due to air pollution varies significantly by location.

For the entire territory, the Geographical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the former USSR identified around 290 areas of acute ecological situations, occupying an area of 3.7 million km², or about 16 percent of the total territory. Of these areas, damage from air pollution accounted for all industrial sites and some non-industrial sites (Markuse, 1993). Air pollution in 1992 around major Siberian industrial cities adversely affected approximately 160,878 km² of land, caused an estimated 86,000 deaths from respiratory diseases and 300,000 deaths from cancers (many of which appear related to air-born toxins), and destroyed 431,877 hectares of forests (Kiseleva, 1996; Gosudarstvennyi doklad, 1994; Russian Federal Forest Service, 1994). The estimated economic costs resulting from environmental damage amounts to at least 50 billion Rubles per annum. However, such estimates do not currently employ “green accounting”

methodology to value externalities of such as clean air and complex forest ecosystems. The loss in terms of human quality of life is difficult to put into economic terms, or remains inestimable.

3.1.1 Regional emissions by volume

East Siberia has the highest volume of total emissions and the Far East the lowest. Following an observed pattern, emissions tend to be highest around the major centers of industrial production, with the highest levels of atmospheric emissions in the southern-central part of Siberia in the regions of Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Novosibirsk. Map 1 above illustrates the level of emissions by general category by region (indicated by relative size of each pie chart). The pattern of emissions becomes clear, with industrial centers serving as the principle sources of air pollution. The visual presentation also indicates the importance of applying risk weighting to pollution analysis in Siberia, for this analysis has shown that sulphur, nitrates, and carbon monoxide have less toxic impact than heavy metals and some organic compounds not shown in this aggregate by-volume map.

Two areas register as Siberia’s most polluted areas in terms of volume: Tyumen oblast in West Siberia and Krasnoyarsk Kray in East Siberia. Anthropogenic activities here contributed over two times the volume of pollution as any other area in Siberia, amounting between 1992 and 1993 to just under six million tons. The next-worst polluted areas are Irkutsk oblast and Kemerovo oblast, again located in East and West Siberia respectively. These industrial cities contribute a high percentage of total pollution by weight. The cities in Kemerovo oblast contribute 100 percent of solid emissions, carbon monoxide and nitrates, as well as volatile organic compounds. In Novosibirsk, industrial cities account for 90 to 100 percent of solids, sulphur, and carbon monoxide.

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The remaining administrative areas contribute relatively little to overall atmospheric pollution in Siberia. The areas in the Far East emit the lowest volumes of the inorganic and organic pollutants studied here, between 100 thousand tons to 1,800 thousand tons of waste during the 1992/93 period.

Areas relatively free from environmental risk lie most often in the Far East. Vast Yakutia Republic sprawls across 3,103.2 thousand km², a third of the total land area of Siberia, and hosts few industrial activities. Here forest ecosystems appear to sustain the lowest levels of total emissions (averaging less than 600 thousand tons per annum) in all Siberia. The greatest anthropogenic threats appear to be from imprudent forestry practices. Such techniques strip permafrost soils of vegetation, exposing it to warming.

At this intersection such practices become problems of atmospheric emission. As permafrost melts, potentially vast areas of once-forested areas could turn into methane and carbon-emitting swamp lands.

Barring such a dramatic situation, the area appears pristine. Overall the Far East appears least harmed by atmospheric emissions, with the exception of Primorsky kray, where a well-developed transportation infrastructure, fishing, and forestry industries contribute to higher emissions weight. The Primorsky area may be of significant interest for its wealth of biodiversity and economic resources, but may be equally threatened as easier access exposes natural areas to human-related stresses (Newell and Wilson,1996). Map 2 below provides a reference for the following discussion, which focuses upon the pollution patterns and the locations in which they are manifest in Siberia.

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3.2 Cities, industry, and chemical patterns

Of immediate concern, the large industrial complexes negatively impact surrounding environments. Using a volume-based analysis of pollution, it appears that West and East Siberian industrial centers threaten surrounding natural areas, while the majority of the region sustains drastically lower impacts from organic and inorganic emissions. A similar pattern emerges in the Far East when applying volume-based analysis. Such an approach indicates that points of concentrated environmental degradation, at least in the short-term, pose low risk levels for the majority of ecosystems for the entire area.

Distinct patterns of pollution emerge from this analysis. Both volume- and risk-ranked analyses of the pollution database indicate broadly that a wide band ranging from Tomsk to Vladivostok along the 50^th to 60^th parallels sustains relatively higher risk from emissions than do other areas in Siberia. Four northern- lying exceptions exist: Norilsk, Yakutsk, Magadan, and Kamchatsky. Data from the Natsionalynyi Doklad indicate that areas around some of the largest Siberian cities and industrial centers may be chronically polluted. Areas manifesting the most significant damage in terms of square kilometers are found in Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Novosibirsk. The largest areas of damage according to this data are found in Abakan- Minusinsk and Kansk, areas around which iron ore, coal and mineral extraction contribute to emissions.

The pollution emitted from Abakan industry contaminates an estimated 40% of the total land area in the Kemerovo oblast.

Chart 3.1 indicates the chronically polluted area as a percentage of the total area of administrative regions in Siberia in thousand km². Of note, while many areas surrounding industrial sites are chronically polluted and could be classified as “sacrifice zones,” areas lying outside them may also be affected by long- term effects of pollution such as tree die-back, increases in tree die-back due indirectly to pollution (such as weakening which leaves boreal forests more susceptible to disease and pests), and soil degradation indicate that Siberia faces greater threats from anthropogenic pollution than now estimated.

Less dramatic but still significant, Irkutsk city pollutes about 4% of the total area of Irkutsk, one of the larger administrative units in East Siberia. Norilsk industry appears to damage approximately 1.06% of the total land area in Krasnoyarsk kray. It is generally accepted that the Norilsk industrial complex is a main contributor to forest die back and earlier stages of forest decline for at least 7,520 km², potentially more when considering transport capabilities of the many heavy metals emitted from its heavy industries.

Information in this chart, though incomplete, does indicate that industrial emissions claim about 1.05% of Siberia’s total area in what the Russian Federation calls “chronically polluted areas.” Other locations may be affected from pollution from industrial sources as well, but the above reported appear most serious.

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Chart 3.1 Chronically polluted areas by administrative region in Siberia, area in km³

Administrative Region Total area of administrative

area, km ³

Chronically polluted area around industrial

centers, km³

Total polluted area in admin. area,

km³

% Total polluted area

in admin.

area

%Chron.

polluted area in admin.

area

Altai Kray 169.1 1.79

Barnaul-Novoaltaisk 1.79 1.20% 1.20%

Gorno-Altai Republic 92.6

Krasnoyarsk Kray 710 19.78 2.78%

Krasnoyarsk 10.72 1.51%

Achinsk 1.54 0.22%

Norilsk 7.52 1.1%

Primorski Kray 165.9

Khabarovsk Kray 788.6 6.65 0.84%

Khabarovsk 2.53 0.32%

Komsomolsk-na-Amure 4.12 0.52%

Amur oblast 363.7 3.89 1.067%

Blagoveshensk 1.81 0.5%

Tynda 2.08 0.57%

Yevrey a.oblast 36

Irkutsk oblast 745.5 34.94 4.69%

Irkutsk 31.24 4.19%

Baikalsk 0.7 0.09%

Bratsk 3 0.4%

Kamchatka oblast 170.8

Kemerovo oblast 95.5

Novosibirsk oblast 178.2 13.02 7.3%

Novosibirsk 13.02 7.3%

Omsk oblast 139.7 4.58 3.27%

Omsk 4.58 3.27%

Sakhalin oblast 87.1

Tomsk oblast 316.9 2.02 0.64%

Tomsk 2.02 0.64%

Tyumen oblast 161.8 4.43 2.74%

Tyumen 4.43 2.74%

Chita oblast 412.5 1.54 0.37%

Chita 1.54 0.37%

Buryat Republic 351.3

Tuva Republic 170.5

Khakass Republic 61.9 38.56 62.29%

Abakan-Minusinsk 38.56 62.29%

Yakutia Republic 3103.2

Total area, km³ 131.2 131.2 approx. 1.5% total area

Source: Obzor Sanitarnogo Sostoyaniya, 1994.

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Analyses using diverse methodologies and with varying pollutant subjects have uniformly indicated that the areas most at risk for environmental degradation in Siberia center around the central- southern corridor of large industrial complexes (Bashkin et al. 1995, Kiseleva 1996, Nilsson et al. 1998).

Pollution is worst in West and East Siberian locations. Other areas in these two regions appear less at risk.

Depending upon the transport capabilities of the heavy metals and organic compounds emitted from southern towns, central and northern Siberian forests could exist almost undisturbed. However, while large tracts of land in both West and East Siberia lie far from industrial centers and may thus be at lower risk, these areas may sustain damage from: long-distance air pollution, weakening due to combined effects of pollution and natural factors, and degradation from new economic developments which can produce higher emissions. Gaps in the data prevent risk analysis for Khanty-Mansi a okr. and Yamalo-Nenets a okr. in West Siberia and Taymir a.okr, Evenk a.okr, Ust-Orda Buryat a.okr and Aga-Buryat a.okr in East Siberia.

Risk-weighted analysis adds some depth, identifying chemicals with the most destructive potential.

Risk-ranking analysis reveals that industrial centers focusing upon the production of chemicals and petrochemicals, steel, and the polymetallic products located mostly in East Siberia and centers like Norilsk and Kemerovo put those areas at higher relative risk than other industrial centers. However, because of the particular set-up of industrial complexes in Siberia, many major centers have all of the industries which tend to emit the most toxic chemicals.

3.2.1 City-source emissions of toxic substances

While the industries located in various Siberian cities determine the pollution profile there, almost all cites manifest a few similar characteristics in types and volumes of chemicals emitted. Carbon soot is emitted in large quantities in all areas, evidence that fossil fuels make up the base of energy production.

Coal burning, oil combustion, and by-products from oil refineries, among others, release about 1,336,460 thousand tons of carbon soot into the air per annum in the average East Siberian industrial town (the amount rises to 2,061,510 thousand tons for Ulan-Ude in the Buryat Republic). All Siberian cities are sources of vanadium pentoxide, manganese, and chrome. Some of the major sources of chrome in Siberia are Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, Osk, and Irkutsk. Irkutsk, the most significant producer of Cd in Siberia, discharged more than 100 tons of this, one of the most toxic identified metals. Norilsk and Belovo (Kemerovo oblast) emit tetraethyl-lead in the largest quantities, while Norilsk generally occupies first place for heavy metals emissions.

A handful of key industries appear to emit the majority of toxic emissions in Siberia by weight and by risk. These industries are located in four or five administrative regions in Siberia, with the remaining areas emitting low volumes of reported pollutants. The dominant industries for total volume of emissions in

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Siberia are related to energy production and the burning of fossil fuels. These include energy production, large coal-burning energy and power stations, the fuel industry and oil dwelling (with Tyumen contributing by far the largest. The following charts show industrial contribution to emissions by volume in Siberia: the polymetallic industry (with industry in Krasnoyarsk the biggest polluters), and the steel industry (Kemerovo leads in emissions).

In 1987, four areas in Siberia ranked among the top ten Russian regions of industrial output. These were Sverdlovsk (27.28% cumulative share of total output), Tyumen (22.85%), Chelyabinsk (15.36%), and Bashkortostan (8.74%). Five years later after the Russian political and economic crisis, six of the top ten Russian regions of industrial output were located in Siberia, namely Tyumen (with 41.35% cumulative share of total industrial output), Sverdlovsk (35.06%), Chelyabinsk (21.05%), Bashkortostan (17.25%), Krasnoyarsk (13.56%), and Kemerovo (3.21%). The policy implications which come from this break down of industrial contribution to air pollution in Siberia include a necessary shift to increased scrubbing or away from fossil fuels and a new, less-polluting energy policy.

The analysis changes when applying a risk-weighting factor into the calculation of emissions and environmental impact. Based upon RfDs for human health, the destructive effect of heavy metals such as manganese or chromium hexavalent exceeds that of carbon soot by many magnitudes. Industries emitting smaller quantities of more harmful compounds, then, become the targets for abatement policy and reveal a pattern of pollution more serious than initially expected in Siberia.

Chart 3.2.1 Contrubution by Industry Type to Air Pollution in East Siberia

Machine building

1% Energy production

6%

Coal burning power and energy stations (big)

6%

Fuel 2%

Machinery and tool 1%

Oil refining 78%

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Chart 3.2.2 Contribution by Industry Type to Air Pollution in the Far East

Chart 3.2.3 Contribution by Industry Type to Air Pollution in West Siberia

Energy production 21%

Coal burning pow er and energy stations (big)

19%

Chemical 5%

Tractor and agri.

Machinery 6%

Machine building 8%

Machinery and tool 10%

Major chemical 4%

Oil-chemical 6%

Coke 6%

Steel 6%

Machine building 2%

Fuel 2%

Coal burning pow er and energy stations (large)

29%

Coal 2%

Polymetallic 2%

Oil-chemical 1%

Machinery and Tool 5%

Building material 5%

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Some surprises emerge. For example, a random analysis of Siberian industrial cities showed that the city of Dalnegorsk was at higher risk for toxic compounds (particularly the polymetallic industry’s lead emissions) than Omsk. Following Omsk, Vladivostok, Juzhno-Sakhalinsk, and Khabarovsk appeared to emit the highest risk-ranked volumes of lead in the region, indicating that environmental impact from lead depositions could be highest in the near vicinity of these points.

Industrial centers which emerge as the most serious points of emissions generally reflect those noted above for total volume emitted. Tetraethyl lead dominates the profile of toxic polluters, for which (in descending order) Irkutsk, Chelyabinsk (both significantly higher emitters of “high risk” toxins than Moscow), Krasnoyarsk (including Norilsk), Primorsky, and Novosibirsk (five magnitudes below Primorsky Kray). Although emissions by volume are higher in Norilsk, the largest emitter of metallic nickel and other metal compounds, industrial centers to the south including Irkutsk, Angarsk, Bratsk among others rank three magnitudes higher in terms of risk.

Because of the extreme toxicity of lead and its low reference dosage, the analysis of significant pollutants changes significantly when lead is excluded. The charts below compare volume-ranked emissions by industry in Siberia and risk-ranked emissions by industry in Siberia, excluding lead.

Chart 3.2.4 Volume-ranked emissions by industry

Compounds Associated industries in Siberia

V2O5 Steel, chemical, polymetallic industry, oil

refineries

Carbon soot Coal combustion, transport, widespread

industry, agriculture, chemical, paper and pulp, steel, oil refining, machinery, fuel industry

Ammonia Energy production

Manganese Steel, polymetallic industry, chemical

Lead Widespread industrial use, leaded petroleum

fuels, military, chemical, polymetallic, oil- refining

Chromium hexavalent Polymetallic, chemical, widespread industrial use

Nitric acid Energy production, large and small coal-

burning energy plants, chemical, agriculture, military, fossil fuel combustion

Hydrogen chloride Energy production, military, polymetallic

industry, chemical

Sulphuric acid Coal combustion, oil refining, polymetallic

industry, wood and paper production, steel, military, chemical, agriculture

Flouric gasses Military, polymetallic industry, chemical,

cement, steel, fuel industry, agriculture, widespread industrial use

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To isolate and reduce the detrimental effects of lead upon human and forest health, the chart below indicates that focusing upon the polymetallic industry (which emits up to 34% of risk-ranked pollutants in Siberia, of which lead dominates due to its extreme toxicity), the machinery and tool industry, and the machine building industry would prove most effective. Of note, other industries such as energy production, large and small coal production plants which contribute high volumes of soot and SO2 do not contribute even one-percent of risk-ranked emissions.

Chart 3.2.5 Risk-ranked emissions by industry

Compound Associated industries in Siberia

Hydrogen sulfide Oil refineries, chemical, iron smelters, coke ovens, food processing, agriculture, oil- chemical

V2O5 Steel, chemical, polymetallic industry, oil

refineries

Arsenic Polymetallic industry, coal-powered energy

plants, agriculture

Nickel Steel, coal-powered energy plants, polymetallic

industry, chemical, oil-chemical

Carbon disulfide Chemical

Hexavalent chromium Steel, chemical, polymetallic industry

Mercury Chemical

Manganese Steel, polymetallic industry, chemical

Hydrocyanic acid Polymetallic industry, chemical, mining, oil-

chemical (ATSDR ToxFAQS 1993)

Of interest, when risk-ranked analysis is applied to industrial emissions data in Siberia, the following industries do not appear: gas, coke, coal, small coal-burning energy plants, major chemical industry, oil dwelling, military or transport. While the data may prove unreliable in some instances, the industries which appeared as the high-risk polluters (Pb excluded) were chemical (15% of high-risk emissions) the oil-chemical (15%), steel production (12%) and polymetallic industry (11%). Medium-risk industries included pulp and paper (8%), paper and wood (8%), energy production (6%), and large coal- burning energy stations (5%).

In the volume-based analysis, the energy sector appeared as the main culprit for total pollution emissions by ton. This lead-dominated analysis reveals that policy makers must first define the level of risk associated by individual pollutants for identified endpoints and then target specific sectors to reduce emissions. The distribution of industries contributing risk-ranked toxins into Siberia’s environments changes when lead, with an RfD several magnitudes higher than the next most toxic substance, is excluded.

Chart 3.2.5 indicates that for the reduction of chemicals such as inorganic arsenic, carbon disulfide, chlorine, chromium (IV), hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, manganese, metallic mercury, metallic

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nickel, and V2O5, policy makers may find an economy-wide regulatory approach more effective than focusing on a specific sector.

This analysis reveals the aggregate contribution of risk-ranked emissions and indicates that a handful of industries pollute in high volumes, others in terms of high-risk emissions, and a few such as the chemical, polymetallic, and steel industries both in high volume and high-risk chemicals. Unlike the volume-based analysis, energy production and most oil-related activities do not appear as the major sources of particularly toxic substances.

While millions of tons of carbon soot and other petroleum fuel-related byproducts pose problems for Siberian environments, according to this analysis they may pose relatively less risk than initially thought. According to a risk-weighted analysis of the data, heavy metals and a handful of organic compounds could impose the most significant risks for Siberian ecosystems and human populations.

4. Threat of atmospheric emissions to forest ecosystems

Atmospheric emissions pose serious health threats to forest ecosystems. Michaelis (1997) reported the significant role which air pollution plays in forest damage, stating, “Slightly damaged trees may occur due to natural causes…but more severe damage or even the death of trees [has been] attributed to anthropogenic causes such as direct effects of air pollutants on plant organs, acid deposition, soil acidification and impairment of the mineral budget.” According to official reports forest die-back resulting from air pollution accounts for 95% of all anthropogenic factors (Obzor Sanitarnogo Sostoyaniya, 1994) and areas of loss appear concentrated along corridors of industrial activity. Forest die-back, increased susceptibility to disease and insect attacks, and simplification have all been linked with emissions in Siberia. Acidifying pollutants, heavy metals, and organic pollutants may also damage the lower plant forms of the tundra which form the food base for many animals and migratory birds (artic moss).

reversion to pioneer stages of succession. When a severe pollution stress is imposed for a long duration or in a particularly high intensity, the forest ecosystem may experience a retrogression characterized by reduction in structural complexity, biomass productivity, and species diversity (Whittaker, 1975). Abating pollution, particularly the high-risk chemicals identified in this report, would not only have a high certainty of improving forest health and preserving a valuable economic asset, but it might also halt possible forest simplification and reduction of biodiversity. Thus discovering the levels and potential risks of emitted chemicals associated with industry in Siberia becomes a priority for forest protection. Present research focuses upon estimating critical loads and their exceedances for single and combined chemicals for the regions various ecosystems (see Nilsson et al., 1998).

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In spite of a pattern of localized pollution, the extent of destruction in terms of total area percentage can be significant. Of most concern, up to 28% of the total area of Krasnoyarsk Kray appears to be chronically affected by toxic emissions coming from industrial centers within this administrative region (Kiseleva, 1996). Although the Natsionalynyi Doklad does not clearly define “chronic,” the immediate effects upon forest die-back correlate strongly with these figures. Of a total area of 71,000 km², approximately 19,780 km² sustain damage from air pollution. These areas are in the immediate vicinity of Krasnoyarsk, Norilsk, and Achinsk. Between 1988-1993 approximately 130,000 ha of forest died due to emissions in the Norilsk industrial complex alone (Kasimov et al. 1993). While these numbers are significant, insufficient data may encourage official reports to underestimate damage to forest. The Russian Federal Forest Service primarily measures forest die-back rather than early stages of forest decline which may have some relation to atmospheric emissions. Combined with knowledge about the weather patterns and pollutant accumulation capabilities of the region, damage caused to forests and other parts of the environment in Siberia may concern larger areas than now estimated. In the longer term, atmospheric emissions from Siberian industrial centers could pose a serious threat to forests ecosystems far afield, weakening and destroying valuable economic and natural resources.

Primary and secondary pollution in the form of direct exposure to emissions such as sulphur dioxide, lead, and other toxic chemicals occurs on a broader level than earlier assumed in Siberia (Nilsson et al., 1998). Exposure to particulates such as industrial dust, soot, lead particles, magnesium oxide, and sulphuric acid have clinically proven adverse affects on tree growth and may so affect Siberian forests, which receive moderate to high dosages of these emissions in local areas. Severe injury to woody plants may also occur in the area of large polymetallic complexes in eastern Siberia due to exposure to heavy metals, dusts and flourides. According to both volume and risk-ranked analyses below, there is reasonable certainty that forests sustain damage from these sources of industrial air pollution. The problems associated with acidification of the Siberian forests have been discussed elsewhere (Nilsson et al., 1998);

this report, therefore focuses on the potential adverse effects of risk-ranked chemicals (the most important of them heavy metals) upon forest health. The major sources of heavy metals in the Siberian environment include emissions from large industrial sources such as the steel industry, the chemical industry, and the polymetallic industry (including primary and secondary base metal smelters and refineries).

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Chart 4.0 Total risk-ranked emissions by industry (minus Pb)

4.1 Effects of metals on forest decline

Needle and root damage and nutrition imbalances have been observed in some areas in Siberia (Nilsson et al., 1998). and acid rain may liberate metals in the soils, the most commonly accepted hypothesis on the mode of metal pathogenicity in forest trees. Constantinidou and Kozlowski (1976) reported how air pollutants induce adverse metabolic changes and injuries in plant cells, warning that

“eventually pollutants affect entire forest ecosystems by inducing reduction in structural complexity, biomass, productivity, and species diversity. Growth reduction by pollutants has been shown by measurements of height growth, leaf growth, xylem increment, dry weight increment of roots, stems, and leaves, relative growth rate, and reproductive growth. Air pollutants inhibit reproductive growth by decreasing the physiological efficiency of foliage, influencing mechanism of flowering and fruiting and directly injuring reproductive structures.

Kozlowski and Constantinidou (1986) note that,”the rate of photosynthesis in polluted plants is adversely affected in the short term by changes in stomatal aperture, occlusuion of stomatal pores, chlorophyll breakdown, and by changes in photosynthetic enzymes, phosphorylation rate, and buffering capacity. In the long term photosynthesis is adversely affected by reduced photosynthetic surface resulting from leaf necrosis, abscission, and inhibition of leaf formation and expansion.” Although current emissions levels have decreased since the height of industrial production under the Soviet regime, one may assume

Total risk-ranked emissions by industry (minus Pb)

Paper and w ood industry

8%

Machine building industry

4%

Steel industry 12%

Oil-chemical industry Measurement tool 15%

industry 1%

Chemical industry 15%

Pulp and paper industry

8%

Fuel industry

3% Polymetallic industry

11%

Building material industry

1%

Food producing industry

1%

Machinery and tool industry

4%

Coal burning pow er and energy stations

(big) 5%

Oil ref ining 3%

Cement industry 1%

Instrument and turning machine

industry 1%

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with some certainty that Siberian forests have been exposed to at least low-level, long term compounds such as SO2 and nitrates, Pb, Mn, chromium hexavalent, and other high-risk chemicals.

Findings on the effects of metals on forest health provide few definitive answers about tree damage and the presence of identified emissions. Although Finnish studies have found no positive correlation between the degree of tree damage and metal concentrations, evidence exists of less direct effects of metal pollution on tree health. These Finnish observations give no evidence for a general absence of such a correlation, but do indicate that researchers have found no relationship between tree damage and metal concentrations in areas of relatively low pollution levels (Ahti 1988). However, Finnish studies have noted less direct effects of emissions upon forest health. In the observation area of Kotka, Ahti (1988) found a correlation between the damage caused by Blastophagus piniperda to pines and concentrations of Cd and Zn in Hypogymnia-physodes in those pines. Ahti also found a positive correlation between the damage caused by B.piniperda and the levels of Fe and Zn in the needles. In addition, the degree of metal concentrations correlated with the degree of damage to lichens in the study.

Metal pollution appears to cause complex ecotoxicological disturbances in forest systems that should not be overlooked even when the volume of aggregate emissions appear to be low in large parts of Siberia. Volume-based analysis leads to the assumption that large tracts of Siberian ecosystems have relatively low exposures to air pollution because reported volume of emissions in these regions are low.

Risk-ranked analysis reveals that, although levels of pollution may be relatively modest, the chemical makeup of the aggregate pollution (particularly if high risk chemicals such as metals mentioned here) may put even remote locations at risk for environmental degradation. Both methods of analysis, however, suggest that areas surrounding industrial centers sustain anthropogenic damage.

Lerman and Darley (1975) indicated that foliar injury (necrosis, chlorosis, and abscission) to forests is attributable to metal particulate exposure. Several studies have shown the destructive potential of heavy metal emissions on forests surrounding near power plants, smelters, and polymetallic industries (Scheffer and Hedgcock, 1955; Scurfield, 1960; Miller and McBride, 1975; Linzon, 1978; Smith, 1981;

Kim, 1982; Pandey, 1983; Ulrich and Pankrath, 1983).

In the vicinity of industrial centers (located primarily in south central Siberia) the damage to trees and other types of life forms from the high risk chemical group appears acute. The impact of lead on forests is not yet fully understood, however developmental damage can occur in trees. Studies in the 1980s showed that lead accumulated in the soil as a consequence of rising acidification, dissolved below pH4, and that this process was enhanced by high concentrations of sulphate and chloride in the soil solution (Brümmer and Herms, 1983, Herms and Brümmer, 1984). Godbold (1984) showed that the availability of just 0.1ppm of lead reduces the growth of fine roots of spruce seedlings by more than 50%. The presence of increasing

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acidification in Siberian forests, combined with such industrial emissions therefore poses significant threats to forests. The effects of mercury, cresol, arsenic, and carbon tetrachloride, compounds identified as “high risk” in this report, also have negative impacts on various stages of tree growth, but more research is required to determine threshold values for specific species. Research shows that Siberian vegetation manifests damage in areas where heavy metal emissions are highest (Ruhling 1978, Ruhling et al. 1984, Tyler 1984, Beyer et al. 1986, Mankovska 1986, Folkeson et al. 1987, Jansen and van Dobben 1987, Kazmierczakowa 1987, Braniewski and Chrzanowska 1988, Beyer 1988, Oyler 1988, Pacha 1989).

4.2 Natural factors combined with anthropogenic pollution

Apparently low levels of emissions may disguise environmental risk by obscuring the effect of weather patterns on deposition and accumulation of toxic emissions over time. In Siberia, weather patterns combine with geographical formation to make large areas of the Siberian territory barely capable of ridding itself from toxic chemicals from air pollution. The low potential for self purification makes technogenic smog in the wintertime, and pollutant accumulation in general, common (Natsionalynyi doklad, 1991). The situation is even worse around cities, where unfavorable atmospheric conditions such as anticyclones and air inversions trap toxic fumes in valleys. The forest damage appears most critical in Krasnoyarsk, where toxic clouds form as water evaporates from the massive Krasnoyarsk water reservoir.

While the presence of insects, forest fires, and disease occur naturally in the region, the presence of anthropogenic air emissions may augment the degree of damage caused by these factors. The southern area of Siberia is characterized by warmer weather conditions which allow insects to develop. Kiseleva (1996) reports that the highest density of insect loca was observed in the Altai region, Novosibirsk oblast, Tuva republic, and Primorsky Kray, all areas lying in the southern part of the region. However, the highest losses of forest due to insect activities from 1989-1993 occurred in industrialized areas of Irkutsk, Tomsk and Tyumen oblasts, with relatively high damage from insects also occurring in Kemerovo and Omsk oblasts, as well as the southern region of Krasynoyarsk kray. These areas also appear sustain the largest forest die-back resulting from air pollution (Obzor Sanitarnogo Sostoyaniya, 1994).

Dust, emitted in large quantities from Siberian factories of all types, can also severely weaken trees and make them susceptible to multiple forms of stress that contribute to tree die-back. Dust may be a locally important stress factor for trees (Nuorteva 1990). Dust pollution causes mite outbreaks but also kills some species of small insects on trees (Alstad et al. 1982). Studies reveal that damaged trees with characteristic symptoms of forest die-back are clearly concentrated around industrial centers and major roads.

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4.3 CO2 and the role of Siberian forests

One key pollutant, CO2, surprisingly not included in the database upon which this analysis is based, deserves mention here. Carbon dioxide emissions in Siberia are of particular interest in light of intense discussions prior to and following Kyoto about green house gasses, Siberian industrial emissions, and the role which the forestry sector can play in emissions abatement or augmentation in terms of volume, are unique (see, for example, Kohlmaier et al., 1998). CO2 is the main polluting substance in the Siberian region (Danilov-Danily‘yan, 1993). As of 1990, the Russian Federation contributed 10.7% of the total global CO2 emissions (UNFCCC, 1998), much of which is a result of either direct consumption of fossil fuels or as a result of fuel extraction and processing of those fuels in energy-rich Siberia. Table 4.3.1 illustrates 1990 levels of green house gases in the Russian Federation. Taking into account the significant carbon sink provided by Siberian forests, net emissions in 1990 were still 451 million tons of CO2, over three times the carbon sink potential (estimated at160 MtC/yr).

Chart 4.3.1 Anthropogenid emission of greenhouse gases in the Russian Federation (RF) 1990

Gas (Mt) RF Emission/RF Sink Global emission,

Mt/yr¹⁾

RF share in global emissions, %

CO2 651/200 6100 10.7

CH4 27 375 7.2

N2O 0.82 8.2 10.0

Source: UNFCCC (1995). Interagency Commission of the Russian Federation on Climate Change Problems, 1st National Communication, Moscow, Russia.

1) IPCC data

The patterns of emissions in European Russia and Siberian Russia vary significantly, with transport and individual motorized traffic playing a significant role in the west, and primarily industrial and forest sectors playing a significant role in Siberia. Although the Kyoto Convention dealt primarily with emissions levels as of 1990, it is important to note that because of the transition, many industrial sources of CO2 actually reduced their emissions. For example, the city of Novokuznetsk experienced a roughly 50%

reduction of CO2 and other major airborn emissions between 1987 and 1992 (Pryde, 1991). However, increased use and potential abuse of Siberia‘s vast forest resources, in addition to growth in the use of low quality materials and fuels, could offset this downward trend and exaccerbate the CO2 problem.

The distribution and magnitude of carbon dioxide emissions also vary, according to both anthropogenic and natural forces in the region. Following the pattern of emissions seen above, CO² is emitted heavily in industrial pockets, particularly those where the energy sector dominates (available data indicate that the industrial corridor of south-central Siberia including cities such as Novisibirsk, Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk, Krasnoarsk, Irkusk, and Bratsk manifest the highest emissions of carbon dioxide). CO² appears to have more stationary source points than other chemicals, primarily because of widespread energy extraction and production activities, and because of the energy inefficiency of Siberian industry. Russian